There actually are four railroad projects in various stages of construction, design, testing or study in Springfield.

Members of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project — an advisory committee formed to keep the public and local government updated on high-speed rail and related construction — provided an update of each at a meeting of The State Journal-Register editorial board last week.

Railroad consolidation, the estimated $315 million relocation of Third Street trains to 10th Street, has gotten most of the attention, said committee members.

But construction is expected to begin in 2014 for crossing and safety improvements on the Third Street corridor separate from rail consolidation.

Soil testing and surveying also has begun for new underpasses on the 19th Street railroad corridor. A study has begun for a project even farther down the tracks — separation of the Union Pacific-Amtrak line from the Norfolk Southern line near Southern View.

The history

Rail consolidation got a big boost in late 2012 when the Federal Railroad Administration signed off on long-term plans to move Union Pacific freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains from the Third Street corridor to 10th Street. City and county officials lobbied hard for the alternative with backing from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The Springfield project is part of the larger plan for regular 110 mph Amtrak service on most of the St. Louis-Chicago route in late 2015. As of July, $1.45 billion in contracts had been awarded for high-speed rail work, according to IDOT.

“All of this plan hinges on funding,” said Jim Moll, rail project manager for Hanson Professional Services of Springfield and a member of the advisory committee.

An IDOT commitment of $8.6 million toward consolidation planning and design is the only solid funding up to now.

But members of the advisory group said it was always expected work would be done as federal funding became available.

“We’ve known all along, this money was going to come in increments and not all at once,” said Kevin Seals, chief environmental scientist for Hanson.

Moll and Hanson said the first tangible signs of rail consolidation would be work on the Carpenter Street underpass. City and county officials expect to learn soon whether the federal government has approved a $14 million grant to begin construction.

Third Street upgrades

Union Pacific freight traffic already has begun to pick up on the Third Street line, according to the advisory group. UP has estimated the five trains a day in 2010 would increase to 27 a day by 2030 as a result of demand and completion of a new shipping yard near Joliet.

“The railroads have all told us their train traffic is going to increase,” said Seals, though he said no formal update of daily traffic has been taken.

Page 2 of 3 - Anticipation of more trains and congestion were among city and county justifications for rail consolidation. But the federal government also has approved $30 million to $40 million worth of upgrades on Third Street to handle longer and heavier trains in the interim.

Advisory committee members said the Third Street work was needed regardless of rail consolidation.

“There’s been a lot of confusion,” said Janet Henderson, senior project manager with Images Inc., a public relations firm based in Wheaton.

The main construction is expected in 2014, including four-quadrant gates and vehicle detectors at crossings, safety fencing to encourage crossing use, pedestrian crossing gates and road upgrades. High-speed rail funding already approved is paying for the work.

Henderson said, once completed, the city could apply for a “quiet zone” along the Third Street corridor. She said the city would have to show the Federal Railroad Administration that trains no longer needed to sound horns as a result of the safety improvement.

19th Street

Early on, city and county officials pushed to include the CN (Canadian National) line on 19th Street in railroad consolidation. However, the federal government determined it was not viable at this point.

Instead, early testing has begun for construction of underpasses at South Grand Avenue and Ash Street.

“We’re doing soil testing and surveying,” Moll said. “They’ve been out there for a couple of months.”

Long freight trains and traffic backups already are a problem at both the South Grand and Ash crossings, Moll said.

Construction, though, could be years away, said advisory group members, as 10th Street crossings likely would take priority in the early stages of consolidation.

The ‘Springfield Flyover’

Congestion also is a problem where UP-Amtrak trains and Norfolk Southern trains cross at the south edge of Springfield, according to state and federal transportation planners.

Hanson has begun a study of a “the Springfield flyover” that would take one set of tracks up and over the other.

Henderson said the environmental analysis should begin this fall of the area at the west edge of Southern View. No construction money has been approved, she added.

Who pays?

The advisory group provided the following breakdown of the estimated $315 million cost of rail consolidation: